1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to liquid cooling apparatuses; and more particularly to a miniaturized liquid cooling apparatus, and an electronic device incorporating the miniaturized liquid cooling apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In an electronic device such as a notebook computer, a mainboard is usually mounted in a casing of the notebook computer, with main electronic components such as a central processing unit (CPU) and a video graphics array chip connected to the mainboard. In addition, a liquid cooling device is used for cooling the CPU mounted on the mainboard. Generally, the liquid cooling device includes a heat absorbing member attached to the CPU for absorbing heat generated by the CPU, a heat dissipation member dissipating the heat to the surrounding environment, a pump driving working fluid to circulate between the heat absorbing member and the heat dissipation member, and a plurality of tubes connecting the heat absorbing member and the heat dissipation member. When the electronic components are disposed on a top side of the mainboard and the notebook computer is oriented on a flat support (such as a desktop), working fluid accommodated in the heat absorbing member can maintain uniform contact with a heat-absorbing (i.e. bottom) plate of the heat absorbing member which in turn is in contact with the CPU. This is due to the effect of gravity. As a result, the heat absorbing member can efficiently take heat away from the CPU, and the liquid cooling device can properly cool the electronic component.
However, when the electronic component is inversely mounted on a bottom side of the mainboard and the notebook computer is oriented on a flat support, the working fluid in the heat absorbing member cannot contact the heat-absorbing plate of the heat absorbing member unless the working fluid is fully filled in the heat absorbing member. If the working fluid is not fully filled in the heat absorbing member, the liquid cooling device cannot properly cool the electronic component. Further, the pump and the tubes occupy a large volume, which increases the size of the liquid cooling device. This goes against the need for compact size in electronic products.
What is needed, therefore, is a liquid cooling apparatus to overcome the above-described limitations.